Past, Present, and Future Research on Teacher Induction: An Anthology for Researchers, Policy Makers, and Practitioners

269 Pages·2010·0.84 MB·English

by  Jian Wang

Past, Present,
and Future Research
on Teacher Induction

Past, Present,
and Future Research
on Teacher Induction
An Anthology for Researchers,
Policy Makers, and
Practitioners
Jian Wang, Sandra J. Odell,
and Renée T. Clift
Published in partnership with the
Association of Teacher Educators
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham, Maryland (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
2010
Published in partnership with the Association of Teacher Educators
Published in the United States of America
by Rowman & Littlefield Education
A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.rowmaneducation.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2010 by Jian Wang, Sandra J. Odell, Renée T. Clift
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Past, present, and future research on teacher induction : an anthology for
researchers, policy makers, and practitioners : a collaborative work of the
Commission on Teacher Induction and Mentoring, Association of Teacher
Educators / edited by Jian Wang, Sandra J. Odell, and Renée T. Clift.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-60709-762-4 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60709-763-1 (pbk. :
alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60709-764-8 (electronic)
1. Teacher orientation—Research. I. Wang, Jian, 1960. II. Odell, Sandra J. III.
Clift, Renée Tipton. IV. Association of Teacher Educator. Commission on Teacher
Induction and Mentoring.
LB1729.P37 2010
371.1—dc22
2010006264
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Contents
Introduction 1
Jian Wang, Renée T. Clift, and Sandra J. Odell, with Pearl Mack,
Sharon A. Schwille, and Michael Strong
Part I: Conceptions and Contexts of Teacher Induction
1 Multiple Meanings of New Teacher Induction 15
Sharon Feiman-Nemser
2 Teacher Induction in International Contexts 31
Lynn W. Paine and John R. Schwille
3 School Cultures and Organizations and Teacher Induction 45
Maria Assunção Flores
4 Teacher Induction for Diverse, Urban Contexts 57
Peter Youngs, Hong Qian, and Richard Holdgreve-Resendez
5 Teacher Induction Policies at National and State Levels 75
Edward G. Pultorak and Richard E. Lange
Part II: Components and Impacts of Teacher Induction
6 Characteristics of Beginning Teacher Role Quality: Connections
to Satisfaction and Commitment 91
Alan J. Reiman, Kristen A. Corbell, Erin T. Horne, and
Dina Walker-DeVose
v
vi Contents
7 Influence of Teacher Induction on Teacher Retention 109
Thomas M. Smith and Maida Finch
8 Influence of Teacher Induction on Mentor Teachers 125
Susan G. Hanson
9 Components of 1997–2008 Teacher Induction Programs:
Reflections on Comprehensive Induction Systems 135
Ann L. Wood and Randi Stanulis
10 Exploring the Potential of Internet-based Technology for
Mentoring and Induction Programs 151
Renée T. Clift, Lara Hebert, Yu-Ming Cheng, Julia Moore,
and Nancy Clouse
11 The University’s Role in Supporting New Teachers: Glimpsing
the Future by Examining the Past 169
Cynthia L. Carver
Part III: Example Studies on Teacher Induction and Its Effects
12 Mentoring for Equity: Focusing New Teachers on English
Language Learners 187
Betty Achinstein and Steven Z. Athanases
13 Bringing Content into Induction Programs: Examples
from Science 205
Julie A. Luft, Jennifer J. Neakrase, Krista L. Adams, Jonah Firestone,
and EunJin Bang
14 Linking Induction to Student Achievement 221
Eric Isenberg, Steven Glazerman, Amy Johnson, Sarah Dolfin,
and Martha Bleeker
15 An Investigation of the Achievement Effects of Mentoring:
A Step into Uncharted Territory 241
Leslie Huling and Virginia Resta
About the Editors 261
Introduction
Jian Wang, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Renée T. Clift, University of Arizona
Sandra J. Odell, University of Nevada, Las Vegas with
Pearl Mack, Harvey, IL, Public School, District No. 152
Sharon A. Schwille, Michigan State University and
Michael Strong, Center for Research on the Teaching
Profession, University of California, Santa Cruz
In 2004 Ed Pultorak, then the president of the Association of Teacher Edu-
cators (ATE), created the Commission on Teacher Induction and Mentoring
and charged it with providing the association and the profession with a
synthesis of the most current knowledge of the scope and impact of teacher
induction. The members of the commission, which included experienced
teacher educators, researchers, program developers, and practitioners work-
ing in the field of teacher induction, identified the important issues and
surveyed the existing research on teacher induction to get a general sense of
the field. Over the duration of the Commission, members included Sandra
J. Odell (Commission Chair), Renée Tipton Clift, Katherine Cummings,
Richard Lange, Pearl Mack, Ed Pultorak, Virginia Resta, Sharon Schwille,
Randi N. Stanulis, Michael Strong, Jian Wang, Elizabeth A. Wilkins, and
Ann Wood.
This volume is the result of five years of the Commission’s attention to
current and past practices in the implementation and study of mentoring
and induction programs for novice teachers. The editors of this volume,
Commission Chair Sandra J. Odell and members Jian Wang and Renée
Clift, agreed to compile the work of the Commission and that of others
who are dedicated to studying induction and mentoring.
Induction and mentoring crosses three professional education communi-
ties—district-level and classroom-level teaching, teacher education practice,
and scholarly practice. Three Commission members, Pearl Mack, Sharon
Schwille, and Michael Strong, agreed to provide their individual commen-
taries on what they see as the role of research on induction and mentoring.
1
2 Introduction
Their comments are interspersed with our description of the content and
scope of this volume.
OVERVIEW
The first part of the book, containing the first five chapters, provides a
scholarly assessment of the conceptual and practical background related
to induction and mentoring. Feiman-Nemser’s chapter analyzes the dis-
course concerning induction and mentoring and identifies the possible
relationships among three meanings of induction and subsequent policy
and practice.
Paine and Schwille provide a cross-national analysis of induction and
mentoring as they document the ways in which the transition of teacher
candidates into the teaching profession is enabled outside of the United
States. Flores also provides an international perspective of the ways in
which school cultures directly and indirectly do and do not provide sup-
port for beginning teachers. Youngs, Qian, and Holdgreve-Resendez review
the literature on urban diverse contexts and their influences on teacher
induction in U.S. school settings. Finally, Pultorak and Lange describe how
different states within the United States have adopted polices and practices
to assist new teachers.
The six chapters that constitute the second part of the book review re-
cent empirical studies on the components of induction and mentoring,
the methods of inquiry, and the impact (or lack of impact) of individual
components or entire induction programs. Reiman, Corbell, Horne, and
Walker-DeVose conceptualize beginning teaching as learning to take on
new roles as they analyze the implications of research on role quality for
supporting and retaining new teachers. Smith and Finch describe the re-
search on retention from a different, but complementary, perspective in
their critique of research designs and methodologies. Hanson documents
the research on how induction impacts mentors and highlights how little
research there is on this important topic.
Wood and Stanulis consider what we have learned about effective pro-
gram components based on the development of induction and mentoring
in the United States. Clift, Hebert, Cheng, Moore, and Clouse analyze
the emerging, and understudied, use of the Internet to support beginning
teachers. In the final chapter of this part, Carver traces university-based
teacher preparation program attempts to support beginning teachers from
preservice preparation through the beginning years of teaching.
The last part of the book provides concrete examples of current research
on teacher induction. Each of the four empirical studies uses a different
research design and methodology. Achinstein and Athanases’s mixed-
Introduction 3
methods study investigates mentors’ abilities to engage novice teachers in
teaching second-language learners in ways that promote social justice. Luft,
Neakrase, Adams, Firestone, and Bang provide qualitative and quantitative
data on the importance of subject-matter-specific induction for beginning
science teachers.
Isenberg, Glazerman, Johnson, Dolfin, and Bleeker report on a large-
scale, quantitative study of student achievement by comparing two nation-
ally recognized induction programs with local, district-based programs.
Huling and Resta also examine student achievement by offering a new
methodological approach to ascertaining induction program impact.
WHY IS CONDUCTING AND
EXAMINING RESEARCH IMPORTANT?
To answer this question we now turn to our commentators—three Com-
mission members whose active participation in debates, wonderings, and
affirmations offers three overlapping answers concerning the important
role of research in informing practice, policy, and induction and mentoring
program design.
Pearl Mack: An Experienced Teacher
Mentor from Harvey Public School, District No. 152
School administrators and committed teachers have always viewed men-
toring as one of the more important endeavors to effective teaching that
positively impact student learning. As a result, the public school district in
Illinois where I taught for thirty-eight years ventured onto rocky ground and
sought money to implement induction programs during the early 1990s
with little to no documented research as a guiding base. Each district had
its separate and unique set of criteria for commencing to deliver, change,
or eliminate its respective mentoring and induction program. Almost ev-
eryone worked independently. Progress and/or problems were shared and
discussed primarily at conferences or periodic professional meetings.
Teacher Involvement
Oftentimes, teachers’ voices were not included in program design or in
setting program goals. Nor were teachers among those attending the state
level and national professional conferences. As a collective group, teachers
had little concrete knowledge of mentoring programs that were being de-
signed, monitored, or changed. They had little comprehension of what the
objectives were for all the facets of the mentoring program, including what